A Successful Extended-Day Partnership in the Bronx

In this Kappan article, New York City principal Ramón González describes his middle school’s decade-long struggle to boost students’ literacy skills. In the early years, he and his colleagues stocked classrooms with books, took students to libraries and bookstores, organized a monthly Principal’s Book Club, held reading celebrations, and got school staff to work with students after hours. But all this wasn’t enough to put a significant dent in low achievement, and teachers working a second shift were showing signs of burnout. 

So the school partnered with a program called MS ExTRA to run the late-afternoon portion of the day. Working with several groups including The After-School Corporation (TASC) and Arête Education, MS ExTRA orchestrated more than two hours a day of extra support, literacy tutoring, and enrichment activities (including dance, health, wellness, and robotics). Students also began to attend a summer program to stem learning loss during July and August.
The results were dramatic. Teachers reported that students were more engaged and ready to learn, sixth graders’ attendance jumped to 97 percent, and the school’s 2013 state ELA test scores were higher than any other public school with similar demographics (charter or traditional). After two years, the school was performing 70 percent above all middle schools in New York City. 

González is quick to point out that not every extended-day program produces results like this. Here is his analysis of the key factors in his school’s success:

• Find the right community partner. There has to be a good match, a shared commitment to maintaining academic rigor, and mutual learning. “You know you have a strong partnership when both partners influence each other,” says González. 

• Coordinate the expanded day with the regular school day. “We don’t call our expanded hours ‘after-school’,” says González; “we call them 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th periods.” There’s constant communication “to make sure that what goes on during the school day informs and reflects what’s happening in the late afternoon.” In particular, there’s been a full-court press to build students’ vocabulary and make sure students are using new words in all their activities.

• Think creatively about budgeting and staffing. The extended day is supported by funds from the school department, Title I, and private grants, and some staff spread their time over the two parts of the day.

• Don’t start from scratch. TASC’s website http://expandedschools.org has suggested tools and resources for this kind of partnership in other schools. 

“Don’t Try to Bridge the Literacy Gap Alone” by Ramón González in Phi Delta Kappan, March 2015 (Vol. 96, #6, p 55-58), www.kappanmagazine.com; González can be reached at rgonzalez@schools.nyc.gov.

From the Marshall Memo #578